


New View On Life

by Varewulf



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Yuri, bonus Afterglow at the end, hopefully fixed, poor Ako, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 06:00:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15624135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varewulf/pseuds/Varewulf
Summary: Updated: Since I forgot the crucial detail that Rinko goes to Hanasikagawa, and not Haneoka, I took down yesterday's fic, rewrote it, and now posted it again.After being hit with a drastic growth spurt, Ako has to go back to school again after summer vacation. She's not looking forward to it.Features Ako angst, Ako/Rinko fluff, Kaoru appearance, and a short bonus section with the Afterglow members.





	New View On Life

**Author's Note:**

> Update: Well, I screwed that up. In all my excitement, I completely forgot the small, but crucial fact that Rinko goes to Popipa's school, not Afterglow's. So unless Ako decides to attend that high school, they wouldn't be in the same school, and that basically scuppered my whole idea. So after hastily taking it back down, and deleting my tweets, I had to decide what I wanted to do. It was demoralising enough that I actually wanted to just drop the whole thing, but I soon realised that I should probably fix it.
> 
> Which gave me two options. Change things around so Ako starts at Rinko's school, or find some other way to include Rinko. I guess there was the third option of blaming it all on being an AU, but I couldn't even make myself feel okay with that one. So I went with what made most sense to me: Having Ako attend her sister's school, and then meeting up with Rinko outside of school.
> 
> Let me tell you, finding the motivation to fix a story is much harder than finding the motivation to write it in the first place. /end Update.
> 
> This idea just popped into my head all of a sudden: What if Ako suddenly grew to be almost as tall as her sister? I doubt that's ever going to happen in the anime or game. Assuming they're going to let the girls age/grow much in the first place. Very few franchises do much with that sort of thing, if any at all. There are two new anime seasons on the way, and season 2 is supposed to be the set the year after season 1, so we'll see then. It would put Ako in high school, and Yukina, Aya, Rinko, and the other second-years into their graduation year, at least.
> 
> And yeah, it just made sense to me that Rinko would be a little excited to suddenly have a tall girlfriend. Even though she loved her when she was short as well. Fits with the whole coolness thing, if you ask me.
> 
> Oh, and for reference, [here's a chart of every Bandori member's height](https://twitter.com/ririan_gbp/status/1009061246006525952). Tomoe is 168, and Kaoru is 170 (which is honestly still short by Scandinavian standards), while Rinko is just 157. Poor Ako used to be 148. I don't know whether a growth spurt as big as that is actually possible in that short of a time, but listen: Don't worry about it.

It was the first day back to school after summer vacation, and as she walked through the school gates, Udagawa Ako felt like her fears were coming true. She could see classmates, and girls she knew from other classes, but no one seemed to recognise her. Even though she was wearing her hair like she usually did, and everything. But she was getting a lot of strange looks, which made her want to hide behind her sister. She knew that would just make her stand out even more, though.

Then finally: "A-Ako?!"

Someone actually recognised her, and she felt so relieved it nearly brought tears to her eyes. "Lisa-nee!"

* * *

_Earlier that morning:_

"You have to come out, Ako," Tomoe said from the outside the door to Ako's room.

"But onee-chan..." Ako said in a sulky voice.

"Come on," Tomoe insisted. "I'm not going to let you skip school, you know."

"Ugh... fine..." Ako walked away from the mirror, and opened the door.

Tomoe smiled at her. "See? It fits you well! You look nice, Ako."

"But..." Ako looked down at herself, and it was further down than she was used to.

There had been an unexpected development towards the end of summer vacation. Ako had hit a growth spurt. And a big one at that. She now stood nearly as tall as her sister, at 166 centimetres. Ako didn't feel particularly happy about it. Everything felt awkward. None of her clothes fit any more. Her underwear mostly did, which was a mercy. She hadn't grown too much in every way. But all of her cool and awesome outfits were now too small for her. So she had to wear Tomoe's old clothes for the most part. Including...

"I had a feeling my old uniform would fit you," Tomoe said. "Is it too loose anywhere? Or too tight?"

Ako tried stretching her arms, and moving about. "No... not really..." The sleeves were maybe slightly too long, but overall it was depressing how well it fit. She had always wanted to be like her big sister, but she hadn't envisioned it happening quite like this. Certainly not quite so suddenly.

"Aw, Ako," Tomoe gently hugged her close, and stroked her hair. "You'll get your new fitted uniform soon. Just bear with it this week, okay?"

Their mother had wanted to make sure the growth spurt was over before she ordered anything, so it hadn't gotten ready in time for school starting back up. Going in for a new fitting had been embarrassing. This was her first year of high school, and already things were going wrong.

"Onee-chan..." Ako whined. "How do you handle being this tall all the time?" she asked. It was disorienting. She bumped into things.

Tomoe laughed. "You get used to it, trust me. A few more weeks, and I'm sure it'll feel natural to you."

"Weeks?!" That felt like ages away.

"Come now, we don't want to be late," Tomoe said, ushering Ako along after grabbing her bag. "Mum's got our lunches ready to go."

Ako still didn't want to go, but realised she wasn't getting out of it.

* * *

"Wow, Ako. You sure weren't kidding," Lisa said, sounding amazed.

"Lisa-nee... I look really weird, don't I?" Ako asked sullenly. Lisa looked so short to her now, which just made her feel even weirder.

They hadn't seen each other in the past few weeks, because Ako hadn't wanted to leave the house at all. She hadn't seen anyone in the band since she shot into the air, and last night she had simply sent them all a text: " _I've grown a bit, so please don't freak out tomorrow, okay?_ "

Lisa laughed disarmingly. "Of course it's not weird. Just a little strange," she said, and smiled.

"But that's the same thing..." Ako didn't feel very encouraged.

"Don't worry about it, Ako," Lisa said. "I'm sure you'll get used to it soon enough. Listen, I made cookies for our first day back, so look forward to lunch, okay?"

"Okay..."

* * *

" _It was awful, Rin-Rin... when the teacher called my name at roll call, everyone looked so shocked when I responded_ ," Ako complained over their instant messenger chat. Her classmates had kept looking at her with big eyes. She was the tallest person in class now, and desperately wished she could shrink down again. " _It's so awkward how they all stare at me_." She hadn't had a good day, and she wanted even less to go to school the next day than she had that day.

" _I'm sorry to hear that, Ako-chan_ ," Rinko responded. " _It'll calm down, I promise_ ," she said reassuringly. " _People get used to it_."

"RIn-Rin..." Ako mumbled, and sagged back in her chair. She didn't know what else to say. Everyone telling her 'it gets better' didn't really make her feel any better. And she had to keep adjusting the hecking chair, because she couldn't figure out a comfortable setting now. Everything was the worst.

" _Hey, Ako-chan_ ," Rinko's chat box flashed with the new message.

" _What is it, Rin-Rin?_ "

" _Do you want to come over?_ "

Ako blinked. Seeing Rinko would be nice, but she didn't really want to leave her room right now. Or ever again. " _I don't know..._ " she typed.

There was a pause before she saw Rinko had started typing again. " _Do you want me to come over?_ " the message said.

Despite them being a couple for a while now, it was rare for Rinko to volunteer to come over to Ako's place. Ako was used to asking, and Rinko often said yes, but she didn't typically ask herself. Maybe that was a sign of how worried she was.

It didn't take Ako long to decide to reply: " _Yes_."

* * *

"Ako-chan... you're so... tall..." Rinko said, looking up in awe.

Ako had been ready to answer the door, as her desire to see Rinko even overpowered her fear that someone else might show up at the door first.

"I know... I look really weird now..." Ako said unhappily.

Rinko shook her head. "No... you look really... cool," she said. Her cheeks were a bit rosy.

"Really?" Ako asked, a note of hope creeping into her voice.

Rinko nodded. "Definitely."

They went up to Ako's room. It was a little messy, as Ako had more trouble than usual getting motivated to clean up. If she was gonna stay in there anyway, then she was the only one who had to care. She had gotten the worst out of the way for Rinko's coming over, but it still fell a little short of ideal. Rinko didn't make any comment on it, and the two of them sat down on Ako's bed.

"You alright?" Rinko asked. She could probably tell that Ako wasn't, but it was a way to start the conversation.

"Not really..." Ako admitted. "But better now that you're here." She smiled at Rinko.

Rinko smiled back, and gave Ako a kiss on the cheek. At least that didn't pose any new issues so long as they were sitting down. Ako leaned against Rinko. That also felt a little strange now, but at least Rinko was still soft. She let out a sigh.

"Hey, can I... make a request?" Rinko suddenly asked.

"Huh? Sure," Ako replied, a little confused.

"Could you just move a little like this... yeah... and then I can..." Rinko manoeuvred the two of them around so Ako sat with her back against the wall, and at an angle that let Rinko snuggle in against her, and lean against her chest. She let out a pleased hum.

"Rin-Rin?"

"Oh... uh... you don't like it?" Rinko asked uncertainly.

It actually felt quite nice, but that wasn't what was bugging Ako. "Rin-Rin... do you... like me better like this? You seem kinda... happy..." Ako steeled herself before her next question: "Didn't you like me as much the way I was?"

"Ako-chan... I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to make it seem like that," Rinko said, and leaned out so she could look Ako in the eyes. "I love you no matter what you look like... I guess maybe I got a little excited thinking about... um... new possibilities..." She blushed as she said that.

"Hm?" Ako didn't quite get it, and tilted her head to the side.

"I've always thought you were cool, Ako-chan... and this is kinda like... a new power, right?" Rinko tried to explain. "So it would be a shame to... not make use of it. At least... that's what I think..."

"Rin-Rin..." Tears started welling up. At least it was easy to embrace Rinko in this position, so Ako hugged her tight. "Yeah! You're right! I'm more powerful!" She sniffed.

Rinko giggled. "And you've always looked up to Tomoe-san, right? Well, now you don't have to... look so far up," she joked.

Ako had to giggle too. It wasn't that often Rinko made jokes. "I didn't imagine it would happen like this, though," she said with a sigh.

"Don't worry, Ako-chan," Rinko said, her head resting against Ako's chest. "No matter what happens... I'm here for you..." She stretched up, and planted a kiss on Ako's lips.

"Thank you, Rin-Rin!" Ako squeezed Rinko a little tighter. "I can feel my dark energy rising. And from this new height, my evil eye can... um... see further... or something..."

"You're really cool, Ako-chan," Rinko said with a giggle.

"Oh! But! I have a bigger crisis!" Ako suddenly remembered. The worst part of all of this: "None of my cool outfits fit any longer! Rin-Rin, you need to come shopping with me!"

"Of course, Ako-chan," Rinko said with a smile. "Maybe I can even... adjust some of your old outfits... if you'd like?" she suggested.

"Really?!"

"No promises... but I can have a look," Rinko said. She was the one who did the outfits for Roselia, after all. So maybe there was something she could do to make at least some of Ako's old outfits fit her new size.

"Thank you, Rin-Rin! I love you so much!"

* * *

Ako felt a lot more cheerful the next day. Rinko had helped her feel less awkward about her new height, and they had promised to go shopping after school that day. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Her new power made her stand out, but such was the fate of a powerful denizen of the underworld. Or something like that. She could get through this.

"Oh, what's this?"

Ako suddenly heard a familiar voice speak as she was on the way to class, and she looked up. Someone was coming down the hallway towards her, with a trail of girls following behind. "Kaoru?"

"Oh my," Kaoru said, and stopped. "I see one of the little kittens has grown into a proud lion."

"Uh... thanks?" Ako wasn't entirely sure whether or not that was a compliment.

A curious glint appeared in Kaoru's eyes. "Say, if you stop by later, I could instruct you on how to become an elegant prince like me," she offered. "What do you say?"

Ako wasn't quite sure if she wanted to be like Kaoru. The only girl she was interested in was Rinko, while Kaoru seemed to have a bit more on her plate. Yet the prince thing sounded intriguing. Dark Prince Ako. It had a cool ring to it. "I'll think about it," she replied.

Kaoru smiled. "Excellent. I shall see you later, then. Fare thee well, Ako-chan," she said, and continued down the hallway. A couple of the girls in tow cast some glances towards Ako as they passed, but then they all vanished down the stairs.

Ako scratched her head. That had been a strange experience. Not just because of what Kaoru had said, but because that hit it even more home just how tall she was now. They had almost been at eye level. Was that what it was always like for Tomoe?

She turned, and headed to the classroom. Everyone looked at her as she came into the room, as if they couldn't help it. It would still take some (maybe a lot of) getting used to, but at least it felt just a little bit less awkward now. She could do this. She could master this new power. For Rinko, and for herself.

* * *

_Bonus Afterglow reactions:_

"Whoa~! You really are your sister's sister," Himari sounded amazed.

"You're right Hii-chan. They're both freaks," said a certain someone.

"Moca!" Both Ran and Tomoe said in concert.

"Don't listen to her, Ako-chan. You're still adorable," Tsugumi assured her with a comforting smile.

"Heeeyyyy, maybe now you'll get as many gifts and snacks as Tomo-chin does," Moca said.

"Moca, I swear..." Tomoe said, making it sound like a warning.

"Gifts?" Ako asked curiously, though she didn't get an answer.

"Someone needs to carry on the mantle once you're gone, Tomo-chin," Moca said.

"Don't make it sound like I'm some old person about to pass on! You and I are the same age!" Tomoe protested.

"I'm really sorry about her, Ako-chan," Himari said in an embarrassed tone.

"Right, that's enough out of you," Ran said, and tugged on the collar of Moca's shirt.

"Ehehe, Ran scolded me," Moca said happily.

Ran blushed. "Quiet," she said, and put a hand over Moca's mouth. Moca looked oddly pleased.

"W-well, at least now you can reach stuff on higher shelves!" Himari said, awkwardly trying to change the subject.

Ako had to smile. "You're right, Hii-chan. Thank you." It was strangely comforting to see them all like this. Even if they looked a lot smaller now.

**Author's Note:**

> The "Dark Prince Ako" idea is something I've tried to turn into a fic for a while, but never managed to flesh out. So I figured that I'd throw it in as a reference here, so I'd at least get some use out of it.


End file.
